ABS Building Approvals show that the number of dwellings approved rose 2.5 per cent in trend terms in September and has risen for 21 consecutive months. This growthwas primarily driven by increases in private sector dwellings excluding houses, up 5.6 per cent in trend terms.

Dwelling approvals increased in trend terms in September in New South Wales (5.8 per cent), South Australia (2.2 per cent), Victoria (1.6 per cent), Queensland (1.5 per cent) and Western Australia (1.0 per cent) but decreased in the Australian Capital Territory (4.2 per cent), Tasmania (1.6 per cent) and the Northern Territory (0.1 per cent).

Approvals for private sector houses increased in trend terms in September for the tenth consecutive month. Of the states and territories, Queensland (1.3 per cent), New South Wales (0.9 per cent), Western Australia (0.5 per cent), Victoria (0.4 per cent) and South Australia (0.2 per cent) all experienced rises in private sector house approvals.

The value of total building work approved rose 0.3 per cent in trend terms in September. Residential building approvals drove growth in value terms, rising 2.1 per cent while the value of non-residential building fell 2.5 per cent.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0) on the ABS website at www.abs.gov.au

Media Note: Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.